In the collaboration with Signal I shared the role of Production Manager with Nicolette. Together we were responsible for overseeing the coordination of the whole project. We had to organize groups and delegate roles. We ensured every team was told their responsibilities and understood the breakdown of tasks. We created documents that were accessible by everyone with information about the overall aims of the project as well as a calendar with all of the important dates.

Initially we worked with the tech team to organize the technical requirements including templates, these were used as a base format for everyone to insert their films and footage so the size and shape of their work would suit the elongated, horizontal format in which Signal projects the work. Formats and saving and exporting requirements were also communicated to the class to ensure everyone’s work was consistent and could be easily edited together and compatible with the technology at Signal. The tech team was responsible for collecting everyone’s work on an external hard drive which we then compiled and curated an order for, for the Signal exhibition footage.

We then worked with the PR team to ensure a Facebook event was created, as well as various flyers and posters to promote the event appropriately, these had to be approved by Signal. We had promotional posters which were pinned up and handed out at various locations. Booklets with portraits of each student, thumbnails of their work and a blurb summing up the art, there were primarily for people who attended the opening in order to inform them about what they were viewing. A website was also set up with this information as well as other information from the Specific to Site course, this is to be used to promote the Signal exhibition as well as inform interested participants and possible future students about the course. I assisted with some of the editing of the website by compiling thumbnails of students work and inserting them into a webpage. The PR team also organized for the event details to be broadcast over the Uni radio.

We worked with the documentation team to organize the documenting of the exhibition process, this documentation was then to be edited by the editing team in order to present at the media night. The documentation team took photos of each student to be used for the portraits on the website and booklet. This team also collected various pieces of students work in order to compile a trailer for Signal, this was posted on Facebook for public viewing. This work was also used on exhibition night to present to other students as a demonstration of our work through out the semester. This team also produced a PowerPoint as visual stimuli to run in the background through out the speech summing up the course.

Lastly we worked with the instillation team who was responsible for collecting material for the media night and organizing a means of presenting it. We fed them details of exhibition times, room location and layout and the various facilities available to present our work. Their role was to collect extra essential material and curate, which works would be on which screens e.c.t

Communication was a vital part of the production manager role. I set up various Facebook messages for each group in order for them to keep in contact with each other and update me about their progress. As well as keeping in contact with the other students Nicolette and I also had to conduct various conversations with the staff at Signal to coordinate flyers, posters and other promotional material. This material had to be approved by Signal and various requirements had to be met including the incorporation of the Signal logo at a certain size and the use of the city of Melbourne logo, which also had to meet various size and location requirements. Contact was also made with Brian involving information regarding the media exhibition night such as times, locations, facilities and layout restrictions. These had to be communicated to the instillation team in order for them to organize the exhibition night.

Extra promotion Nicolette and I tried to organize included sponsorship by various companies who may have been willing to provide discounted products in order to draw crowds to the Signal exhibition. Unfortunately this proved to be too costly. We also tried to organize food and drinks to be available on opening night on order to create the essence of an official event. Unfortunately alcohol was prohibited as Signal is part of City Of Melbourne. Food was also going to be difficult to co ordinate because it required staff presence and monitoring which again proved too costly. Instead we settled for a casual opening which consisted of a brief speech and dinner and drinks afterwards at a near by bar.

Other challenges throughout the process included communication challenges. Some groups were constantly available, willing to take on extra work to ensure a smooth exhibition and create the best possible opening event. Others were hard to get in contact with, they didn’t respond to messages, Facebook posts and emails and were not willing to pick up the slack. This left roles unfairly divided with some taking on allot and others taking on minimal work. Many team members took initiative to come up with their own ideas and input their own creative influences, others struggled to show initiative and take control and responsibility of their roles. There were also communication issues when communicating with teams and Signal, when various people are involved in the same job we were often receiving different and contradictory information from different sources which made the process confusing.

The importance of leadership. The production team was required to delegate tasks and divide up roles. We had to show responsibility and initiative and ensure everyone was on top of their tasks. We had to be available for communication and assistance when groups were unclear with what they were doing or how it slotted in with other teams work. Especially we had to unite the different groups and bring everything together

As a part of Specific to site I have learned the importance of connecting your environment with your work. Art can be particularly effective when it is specifically designed for a unique art space and alternative way or presentation such as Signal or Testing Grounds.Quality is essential when presenting art and a simplistic piece that is executed well can be far more effective then a lo fi piece with lots going on that has all been thrown together without thought or consideration. It is important to connect your work with other elements of your life. The process of reflection can give you new insights to your work. Reading articles and observing your surroundings and then connecting these to your work can stimulate new thought processes and cause your work to evolve and adapt into art that is more likely to be engaging and intriguing to audiences.

The Journey is a piece that focuses on transportation, in particular trains. It is a multidimensional piece containing different size trains, running in different directions. I wanted to focus on the different layers within transport systems visually as well as literally. The intricate connections within the transport system help maintain a sense of flow and movement within the city. I view my work as a microscopic demonstration of the interconnections on a larger scale. My piece is a zoomed in view of the links and lines formed through this system. I find it fascinating to visualize the city from a birds eye view and imagine all the intricacies of each bus, tram and train, all travelling simultaneously and crossing over at pinpointed locations. Everything is timed and scheduled and if 1 minute thing goes wrong it can throw off the whole balance and hinder the system. At its best, the system runs like clockwork, a series of cogs and mechanisms that work in unity to maintain a solid and consistent flowing motion.
I was highly influenced by the architectural concept by On Sou Fujimoto that we discussed earlier in the year. This looks at the relationship between the human body and the structure of cities. It highlights the relationship between the 2 seemingly unrelated things such as the way that traffic flow is similar to the circulation of blood in our body or the way that buildings are composed to create space and energy and allot the city to breathe much like the functions of human lungs. In a way everything that has structure, flow and motion will have some sort of a circular system to it. E.g cogs in a clock, chains on a bike, the motor in a computer or engine in a car. “We raise blinds and lower shutters as we do eyelids, animating the house like a secondary body, ensconcing or rejecting light into our spaces.” Man made creations such as the public transport system often subconsciously stem from our understanding of our own body.

Each day there are different carriages transporting masses of people to different locations. People are simultaneously living their lives side by side but may be unknown to each other and never come across one another again. Most trains take on the same form, shape, size and colour but each train has its individual purpose. Each one is suited to a specific group of people, living within a defined geographic region. I wanted my work to communicate the urban, metropolitan environment so unique to Melbourne. Transport is an essential part of our modern and innovative city.
In my readings I looked at the concept of ‘reflection’, by mirroring, overlapping and repeating these visuals of train I wanted to highlight their true importance in the daily lives of civilians as well as tourists. I also looked at reflection as a personal and soulful process of rediscovering history and pondering the ways in which our past can affect the future. Travelling on public transport often provides an opportunity for individuals to undertake a reflection process. This can be a very nostalgic. When we are forced to spend time alone it gives us the space and freedom to think. On the train we look out the window and watch the world pass by, simultaneously we see our lives flashing by. We get lost in thought before we are snapped back into the present by the passing of an unusually close tree or electricity pole.

Reflection is also my way of mirroring and repetition the audiences environment within my work. The location of Signal is metropolitan and is right next to Flinders Station, the heart of the train stations. Many viewers will have just walked past the station or travelled to Signal Via train. When watching my work audiences may still be able to hear the sound of trains in the background. I wanted audiences to be able to draw links between my work and their surroundings in order to evoke an essence of familiarity and conjure up a sense of de ja vu.

I edited my piece to have trains running simultaneously, overlapping and running in layers, similarly to the way the run in real life, especially at busy train stations like Flinders Street. I wanted them to consume the foreground, mid ground and background to communicate this layering. I also chose to focus on movement with my editing, I moved my images from one side of the screen to another. I had them clashing and experimented with the linear movement of the trains.

When editing my sound for Signal I wanted to maintain the focus on transport but switched my attention from trains to walking. This initial method of transport can be very therapeutic and grounding. It brings you back to the hear and now and can strengthen the ties between an individual and their environment. I overlapped the sound of various shoes walking on various surfaces. I recorded heels walking on wooden floors, runners walking on a gravel path, canvas shoes on concrete, thongs on grass and boots on dried leaves and twigs. You can tell allot about a person by these sounds, are they busy/laid back, formal/casual, adventurous/reserved? Listening to the alteration in pace and tempo can give you an insight to someone’s destination and what their day to day life might be like. One of the first things an actor does to get into character is to take on the walk. Do they walk on the balls of their feet or sink into their heels, stand up straight or slouch and scuff their feet, walk pigeon toed or with their feet facing out, do they lead with their head, hips or feet? Observing these things can be key to gaining an understanding of someone’s personality.

TELEVISION, MEMORY AND NOSTALGIA
Amy Holdsworth Print Pub Date: August 2011 Online Date: October 2011
Media & Culture Collection 2012, Series: Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies
http://www.dezeen.com/tag/sou-fujimoto/

When editing my piece I wanted to capture the essence of a metropolitan environment and the daily commute for city civilian’s. Melbourne’s trains are particularly cosmopolitan in appearance. They create a structured and manufactured surrounding that contributes to the urban setting. I also wanted to deal with my fascination with reflection.
reflection
rɪˈflɛkʃ(ə)n/Submit
noun
1.
the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
“the reflection of light”
The most notable part of my train journey are the sections where you can see the train reflected on buildings and windows as you pass by. It is interesting to see this vestal you are travelling in without being able to see your face onboard. You are observing the scenes but your view of the outside world is shattered as you are reminded of your place within it. You transition from observer to the realisation that you are contributing to the environment and overall structure of the city. The city is full of movement and you are a part of the cogs that twist and turn in different directions but begin and end in the same place. This reflects our daily routine, waking up, going about your day and returning home at the end. The layering of movement of trains in my editing was done to highlight this multi faceted nature of the city.

Sound – My sound is very unresolved and will need to be re shot and edited. Originally I intended to connect my sound to the visuals of the train. I edited sounds such as the train tracks, These are all sounds people uniquely identify with their experience on public transport. I wanted to sum up the audio experience of a train journey. I wanted the audience to be able to identify each sound and relate to their own experiences. To highlight the mundane sounds we take for granted that blur in to the business of our every day life and dont stand out or make an impact but collectively evoke a sense of association between a certain time and place. When edited together the piece sounded too much like a insignificant snippet of a train trip. I then attempted to warp the sounds to have reverb and different tempos. I experimented with cutting sounds and repeating them in order to form a beat. I slowed down and sped up the clips but they didn’t come together cohesively. They sounded too disjointed and and didnt flow from one segment to another. I need it to sound unified and not like an experimental audio edit .

Nostalgia – This Mad Med episode discusses the relationship between the old and the new. The happy/sad feeling that spurs inside you when you recollect memories from the past. Nostalgia is stronger then a memory, its difficult to describe, its an association we have with a particular time and place that conjures up a sense of sentimentality. “In Greek nostalgia literally means pain from an old wound” “its a twinge in your heart, far more powerful then memory alone”. It grows stronger with time, age and distance. As the gap widens between the event and the present the ties become tighter and immerse themselves deeper and deeper within our hearts. The further we travel from the actual event the more we ache to return there and the less likely we will ever be able to recreate that occasion. Nostalgia draws a line between familiarity and the unknown. Its a time in our past but can often feel so far removed from our currant state that it almost feels like a stranger.

I have settled on the idea of journeys. I want to focus on the views out of a train window and how that can represent a metaphoric journey, you depart from one place, arrive at another and have a very internalised and personal thought process in between. A train trip can be a good opportunity for an individual to get some piece and quiet, absorb their surroundings and enter a space of deep thought and contemplation. Trains can also be metaphoric of memory or dreams. They can be a nostalgic experience where we recollect our past. The flashing images of trees, houses and fences can blur into snap shots of our own lives. Our thoughts flicker from past to present, to future and back again.